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Luminaries
''The Luminaries'' is a 2013 novel by Eleanor Catton. Set in New Zealand's South Island in 1866, the novel follows Walter Moody, a prospector who travels to the West Coast settlement of Hokitika to make his fortune on the goldfields. Instead, he stumbles into a tense meeting between twelve local men, and is drawn into a complex mystery involving a series of unsolved crimes. The novel's complex structure is based on the system of Western astrology, with each of the twelve local men representing one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, and with another set of characters representing planets in the solar system. The novel has won many awards and honours, including the 2013 Booker Prize. It was adapted into the BBC/TVNZ miniseries ''The Luminaries'' in 2020. In 2022, it was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Plot The story begins with one of the book's protagonists, Walter Moody, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Luminaries (miniseries)
''The Luminaries'' is a 2020 drama television miniseries written by Eleanor Catton (based on her 2013 novel ''The Luminaries'') and directed by Claire McCarthy. The series is centred on a young adventurer named Anna Wetherell (Eve Hewson), who has travelled from the United Kingdom to start a new life in New Zealand during the 1860s West Coast Gold Rush. In New Zealand ''The Luminaries'' premiered on TVNZ 1 on 17 May 2020 and then had its first broadcast in the UK on BBC One on 21 June 2020. The series has received mixed reviews from critics, though it went on to earn 14 nominations at the 2020 New Zealand Television Awards, winning 8 of them. Background Eleanor Catton's novel was awarded the 2013 Man Booker Prize. TVNZ summarises the story as an "epic drama (that) tells the 19th-century tale of love, murder and revenge as men and women travel across the world to make their fortunes on the wild West Coast of New Zealand's South Island." The BBC synopsis added that the series is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleanor Catton
Eleanor Catton (born 24 September 1985) is a New Zealand novelist and screenwriter. Born in Canada, Catton moved to New Zealand as a child and grew up in Christchurch. She completed a master's degree in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her award-winning debut novel, '' The Rehearsal'', written as her Master's thesis, was published in 2008, and has been adapted into a 2016 film of the same name. Her second novel, ''The Luminaries'', won the 2013 Booker Prize, making Catton the youngest author ever to win the prize (at age 28) and only the second New Zealander. It was subsequently adapted into a television miniseries, with Catton as screenwriter. Early life Catton was born in Canada, where her father was a graduate student completing his doctorate at the University of Western Ontario on a Commonwealth scholarship. Her mother Judith is a New Zealander from Canterbury, while her father, philosopher Philip Catton, comes from Washington State. Her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2013 Man Booker Prize
The 2013 Booker Prize for Fiction was awarded on 15 October 2013 to Eleanor Catton for her novel ''The Luminaries''. A longlist of thirteen titles was announced on 23 July, and these were narrowed down to a shortlist of six titles, announced on 10 September. The jury was chaired by Robert Macfarlane, who was joined by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Natalie Haynes, Martha Kearney, and Stuart Kelly. The shortlist contained great geographical and ethnic diversity, with Zimbabwean-born NoViolet Bulawayo, Eleanor Catton of New Zealand, Jim Crace from England, Indian American Jhumpa Lahiri, Canadian-American Ruth Ozeki and Colm Tóibín of Ireland. Judging panel On 21 November 2012, it was announced that Robert Macfarlane would chair the panel of judges that would decide the winner of the 2013 award. Macfarlane declared that he felt "very proud indeed to be chairing this prize, which has done so much to shape the modern literary landscape." On 17 December, he was joined by four other judges: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial objects in astrology, celestial objects. Different cultures have employed forms of astrology since at least the 2nd millennium BCE, these practices having originated in Calendrical calculation, calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Most, if not all, cultures have attached importance to what they observed in the sky, and some—such as the Hindu astrology, Hindus, Chinese astrology, Chinese, and the Maya civilization, Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Séance
A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "''une séance de cinéma''" ("a movie session"). In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits. In modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a séance. Fictionalised conversations between the deceased appeared in ''Dialogues of the Dead'' by George, First Baron Lyttelton, published in England in 1760. Among the notable spirits quoted in this volume are Peter the Great, Pericles, a "North-American Savage", William Penn, and Christina, Queen of Sweden. The popularity of séances grew dramatically with the founding of the religion of Spiritualis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platinum Jubilee Of Elizabeth II
The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952, the first British monarch to ever celebrate one. In the United Kingdom, there was an extra bank holiday on 3 June and the usual spring bank holiday was moved from the end of May to 2 June to create the four-day Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend from Thursday, 2 June, to Sunday, 5 June. It was the first time that any monarch in British history celebrated a platinum jubilee, as is the case in the histories of the other Commonwealth realms. Initiatives to commemorate the jubilee were announced by the governments of many realms—including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the United Kingdom—of territories, such as the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar, and celebrations were also held in other Commonwealth member states, like the Gambia, Malaysia, Malta, Pakistan, and Samoa. Leaders from across the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pounamu
Pounamu is a term for several types of hard and durable stone found in southern New Zealand. They are highly valued in New Zealand, and carvings made from pounamu play an important role in Māori culture. Name The Māori word , also used in New Zealand English, refers to two main types of green stone valued for carving: nephrite jade, classified by Māori as , , , and other names depending on colour; and translucent bowenite, a type of serpentine, known as . The collective term pounamu is preferred, as the other names in common use are misleading, such as New Zealand jade (not all pounamu is jade) and greenstone (a generic term used for unrelated stone from many countries). Pounamu is only found in New Zealand, whereas much of the carved "greenstone" sold in souvenir shops is jade sourced overseas. The Māori classification of pounamu is by colour and appearance; the shade of green is matched against a colour found in nature, and some hues contain flecks of red or brow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia. The development of most Chinatowns typically resulted from mass migration to an area without any or with very few Chinese residents. Binondo in Manila, established in 1594, is recognized as the world's oldest Chinatown. Notable early examples outside Asia include San Francisco's Chinatown, San Francisco, Chinatown in the United States and Melbourne's Chinatown, Melbourne, Chinatown in Australia, which were founded in the mid-19th century during the California Gold Rush, California and Victorian gold rush, Victoria gold rushes, respectively. A more modern example, in Montville, Connecticut, was caused by the displacement of Chinese workers in the Chinatown, Manhattan, Manhattan Chinatown following the September 11th attacks in 2001. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laudanum
Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum Linnaeus'') in alcohol (ethanol). Reddish-brown in color and extremely bitter, laudanum contains several opium alkaloids, including morphine and codeine. Laudanum was historically used to treat a variety of conditions, but its principal use was as a pain medication and cough suppressant. Until the early 20th century, laudanum was sold without a prescription and was a constituent of many patent medicines. Today, laudanum is recognized as addictive and is strictly regulated and controlled as such throughout most of the world. The United States Controlled Substances Act, for one example, lists it on Schedule II, the second strictest category. Laudanum is known as a "whole opium" preparation since it historically contained all the alkaloids found in the opium poppy, which are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Jubilee Read
The Big Jubilee Read is a 2022 campaign to promote reading for pleasure and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, 10 from each decade of Elizabeth II's reign, was selected by a panel of experts and announced by the BBC and The Reading Agency on 18 April 2022. ''Includes list of titles with images of covers'' Selection process An initial long-list was compiled from readers' suggestions, and a panel of librarians, booksellers and "literature specialists" made the choice of 70 titles, aiming "to engage all readers in the discovery and celebration of great books". The project received funding from the Arts Council and is supported by Libraries Connected and the Booksellers Association. The organisers hope that the project will "celebrate the joy of reading and the power that it has to connect people across the country and among nations". Nineteen of the books are winners of the Booker Prize. Most of the books are novels wr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patu
A patu is a club or pounder used by the Māori. The word ''patu'' in the Māori language means to strike, hit, beat, kill or subdue. Weapons These types of short-handled clubs were mainly used as a striking weapon. The blow administered with this weapon was a horizontal thrust straight from the shoulder at the enemy's temple. If the foe could be grasped by the hair then the patu would be driven up under the ribs or jaw. Patu were made from hardwood, whale bone, or stone. The most prestigious material for the patu was pounamu (greenstone). Maori decorated the patu by carving into the wood, bone or stone. Types of patu include: * ''patu pounamu'' or ''mere'': made from pounamu (greenstone). * ''patu onewa'': made of stone. These resemble the mere in outline but thicker, because the stone used was more easily broken than the resilient pounamu. * ''patu paraoa'': made of whale bone * ''patu tawaka'' and ''patuki'': made from wood. Other styles of short handled wooden clubs inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triple Conjunction
A triple conjunction is an astronomical event when two planets or a planet and a star appear to meet each other three times during a brief period, either in opposition or at the time of inferior conjunction, if an inferior planet is involved. The visible movement of the planet or the planets in the sky appears therefore normally prograde at the first conjunction, retrograde at the second conjunction, and again prograde at the third conjunction. The lining-up of three planets is a particular case of syzygy. There are three possible cases of triple conjunctions. Of inferior planets with superior planets or stars If Mars is in conjunction with the Sun, there is often a triple conjunction between Mars and Mercury or between Mars and Venus. In the events in which Mercury is involved, the second conjunction is invisible because of small elongation from Sun; both other events are difficult to see because of the nearness to horizon and the relatively low brightness of Mars, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
